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Charles B. Willis
Charles B. Willis, captain of Fire Company No. 3 at Pueblo, was
born at
Corinth. Orange county, Vermont, August 16, 1863, a son of
Jonathan B. Willis,
who was a shoemaker by trade and who in 1870 removed with his
family to Denver,
where he conducted a shoe shop until the 2d of February, 1872.
He then removed
to Pueblo and opened a shop on Santa Fe avenue, becoming one of
the pioneers of
the city, as he had been in Denver. The old log shop which he
occupied in the
early days is still standing. He remained for years an active
factor in business
and had prospered in his undertakings but suffered losses
through a bank
failure. He died in the year 1900.
Charles B. Willis had to go to work when a youth of but twelve
years, owing
to the failure of the bank in which his father had placed his
savings and which
brought great financial disaster to the family. Mr. Willis then
began herding
sheep and was thus employed for two years. He afterward began
driving a team for
his father in connection with city employment when a youth of
fourteen and has
been in the employ of the city continuously since. He was a
member of the early
volunteer city fire department and when the city first
established the paid
department in 1893 Mr. Willis became a member. He was made a
captain in 1895 and
he served as chief for two years. He has been a very active and
prominent factor
in bringing about the present efficiency of Pueblo's fire
department. He is now
captain of Fire Company No. 3, which company is splendidly
organized and
drilled, doing most effective work in fighting the fire fiend.
Mr. Willis was married on the 23d of November, 1884, to Miss
Lavina Loop, a
native of Kansas. He is fond of hunting and turns to that sport
for recreation.
He has membership with the Knights of Malta, the Knights of
Pythias and the
Brotherhood of American Yeomen. His religious faith is that of
the Baptist
church and his political views are in accord with the principles
of the
republican party. He was a little lad of but seven years when
the family home
was established in Colorado and he has since resided within the
borders of the
state, having therefore for forty-eight years been an interested
witness of the
growth and progress which has led to the substantial development
of Colorado,
placing it on a par with the older states of the east in all of
the advantages
and opportunities furnished to its citizens. He can relate many
an interesting
tale concerning both Denver and Pueblo and he well deserves
mention among the
honored pioneer settlers.
Source: Stone, Wilbur Fiske,
History of Colorado, volume III. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke
Publishing Company, 1918.
Contributed by Joy Fisher (Dec08)
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